The Indian startup ecosystem is showing strong momentum due to out of the box thinking by entrepreneurs related to new and innovative products and services, business solutions dynamic business environment, changing needs of consumers and increased internet and device activation. And even though the COVID-19 pandemic affected the cash reserves of almost half the startups in India, the first quarter of 2021 saw 12 startups become unicorns against the odds. The startups were able to raise $7.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021 itself, through risk investors. The average funding size has so far increased when compared to the previous year.
To further facilitate the growth of startups in India the
government of India has announced the ‘Startup India’ initiative. The
initiative was started in 2015 and it focused on three key areas which were
simplification and handholding, industry-academia partnership and incubation
and funding support and incentives. This initiative has simplified the process
of registration, reduced cost, tax benefits being 3-year exemption and easy
access to funds to name a few. The Startup India has also partnered with various
companies like Facebook which will give grants to the top 5 selected startups,
Microsoft Venture Accelerator Program which has selected 16 startups and
Goldman Sachs which will help women entrepreneurs. The government has also
launched the Startup India Seed Fund scheme which provides financial assistance
to startups with respect to prototype development, proof of concept,
market-entry, trails and commercialization. The government also allocated ₹830
crore in the Union budget 2021-22 for the Fund of Funds for Startups which also
has a corpus of ₹10000 crores. Apart from this SEBI also eased norms for
startups.
Besides these the
government has other programs that promote the startup ecosystem, some of which
are Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana provides loans to small and micro enterprises
and GeM which is a Government e-Market for online procurement of goods and
services in India, Digital India which aims to digitally empower India and
expand e-governance, Skill India initiative which focuses on providing an opportunity
to the Indian youth by giving vocational training and providing certification
programs and SEBI’s Alternative Investment Fund Regulations and Make in India.
These government programs and initiatives aim to promote
innovative and entrepreneurial thinking and should provide support and build on
the strong momentum that is there in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Author Details
Name
: Vaidehi Dubey
Batch : 2020 – 2022
Linkedin
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaidehi-dubey-8a2061143/
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